For 2014, Northern California based E*Thirteen recently launched a series of updated products and a new enduro race oriented product line. Currently, the company offers three distinct product lines for everything from XC to DH usage. The XCX products are cross country specific, TRS components are built for trail and all mountain abuse, and the LG1 items are ready for World Cup level DH abuse.
Each of these product lines features three different tiers. The top of the line “R” products use exotic materials to push the weight and performance limits under race conditions. Mid level price point are “+” items, which use similar tech to the race oriented line up, but sacrifice some fancier manufacturing processes to bring down price. The base level items, which have no particular designation, are targeted towards the OEM market.
With the recent popularity of Enduro racing, the company has developed an entire product line for riders attempting to push the limits and trim seconds.
Going through the product line in roughly ascending order of price – we start with the two new chain guides.
The biggest story here is a the new carbon back plate, which e13 claims is 20% lighter and 25% stronger. The TRSr Dual guide on the left weighs a feathery 76 grams. On the right is the new LG1r Downhill Guide, which is 30 grams lighter than (one of our long time favorite guides) the LG1+. Both are available with either black or white plastics.
The LG1R pedals feature the same replaceable plastic plates and customizable bearing preload as their standard pedal, but use heat treated aluminum pins and a Ti axle to save weight. New seals have also been introduced which decrease spinning friction. The plastics are available in Red, Blue, White, and Black.
MSRP for the 380 gram pedals is $319, with availability in August.
The new cranks, with 36/22 and BSA+ BB, weighs 741 grams. They are compatible with either single or double chain ring setups and use a spiderless design. E13 uses a German designed spindle interface called Polygon 3 (P3) that was originally developed for high torque industrial applications like tank drive shafts. They claim it provides 100% spindle to crankarm surface area contact and avoids splined interface degredation – the pimary causes of crank loosening and creaking.
Gearing options include 28-38 single rings, and 38/24, 36/22, 34/20 doubles. All single cranks will come stock with the modified chain ring for improved chain retention that we covered at Sea Otter.
The new 2014 Product Line uses reworked front and rear hubs for increased serviceability and lighter weight. The new hubs are 20% (60 grams) lighter and have wider flanges for better traingulation, in order to produce a stiffer overall wheel.
The TRSr race are e13s latest and greatest wheelset. They’ve been entirely reworked for better weight, strength, and durability. They’re 5% lighter than the TRS+ wheelset at 1560 grams and the engineers claim they’re 30% stiffer.
The company also increased the rim with for better performance with larger tires – up to 2.5″ wide. The sidewalls have also been reinforced with more material to decrease the likelihood of dents.
